I'm no Sherlock Holmes, but starting out this piece by saying "no one will know" what Obama is going to say until he starts talking unless the text leaks is poor quality reporting. Obviously, if he sticks to the text, LOTS of people know - including those who wrote it and those who were in the many briefings and preparatory sessions. The only way "no one" will know what he is going to say is if he goes OFF text - in which case, leaking the text would not be relevant - and if Obama actually surprises himself by what he says (which is possible).

9:30 am January 25, 2014

Jon Barecky wrote:

Make sure to wear your boots on Tuesday night, because the BS is going to get very deep very fast. The mini-me emperor has no clothes and the entire Chamber should shout LIAR when he enters.

9:36 am January 25, 2014

Jon Galt wrote:

Make sure to put your on your boots because the BS is going to get very deep very fast. The entire Congress should stand up and shout LIAR when Obama enters the Chamber.

9:43 am January 25, 2014

Buzzie wrote:

Obama needs to get the government out of the way and small businesses will expand. Obamacare is the biggest obstacle along with exorbitant taxes.

10:14 am January 25, 2014

Dan wrote:

He's a known liar. I'm not even going to listen to the speech and neither should the GOP or any American.

10:19 am January 25, 2014

MZ wrote:

Blah, blah, blah. Does anyone even listen to him anymore? Buzzie has it right, just get government off the backs and out of the way of small business.

10:40 am January 25, 2014

Pennsylvania Farmer wrote:

What we need for this speech is to organize the audience to yell "You Lie!!" in unison ever minute. One would wish otherwise, but it would reflect the content of the SOTU speech.

10:43 am January 25, 2014

NVFisherman wrote:

Obama has to put back the Section 179 first year depreciation writeoffs and 50% bonus depreciation. Companies are reluctant to make capital improvements such as the purchase of equipment until they know what the tax law is going to allow. All this uncertainty is not good. Lets get the country moving again and do away with petty politics.

11:19 am January 25, 2014

Jim Jensen wrote:

Instead of his pen and phone, he needs an eraser to eliminate any rules that cost people jobs.

11:40 am January 25, 2014

joe bagadonuts wrote:

does he ever get tired of making speeches? he has been campaigning for 8 years. maybe he should go back to white house and al least pretend he is a leader. what a waste of 8 years for this country. infrastucture? the permitting process will still be going on after the next presidents first term is over....guess this guy never heard of the the three, and seperate branches of the govt. why not just write that the congress and the senate are now abolished while he is at it....cant wait for this inept clown is gone...

11:41 am January 25, 2014

Reasoned wrote:

We know what he will say, the problem is his "blame the fortunate" approach is tired and not helpful. He is flat out of ideas.

11:45 am January 25, 2014

j wrote:

How about if u want your DR u can have it ! How about savings to your current plant by about $2500.? How about telling us when and if ever u are going to sign the the Keystone project which is going on 6 yrs?. How about telling the people that u will obey with the non partisan panel who said that it's unconstitutional to spy on Americans ? It will never happen!!

11:49 am January 25, 2014

Obama Jugend wrote:

"...directing proceeds to roads, bridges and other public works projects,,," Two problems: 1. The money will be directed to union-only projects, as in his un-stimulating stimulus. They will skim off vast sums, leaving only pennies on the dollar for real work. 2. As Barry himself admitted, there are no "shovel ready" projects. This wet dream of his will yield nothing but higher taxes and make believe work for his union cronies.

11:56 am January 25, 2014

Why bother? wrote:

Unless he really addresses the state of the union the media should just ignore the speech as just another dose of propaganda. The intent of the requirement for a state of the union message was for the horse-and-buggy congress to be updated on the state of the unification of the the states... that was pretty much settled by the Civil War which established the fact that the union was indivisible. A legitimate report would state: 1- the union itself is quite secure - we have the military might of the nation to assure that no state leaves the compact; 2- as a business the union is in financial trouble because it spends far more than it takes in and has not fiscal discipline; 3- It is the role of congress to raise taxes and approve spending and it has been negligent in allowing the executive branch to usurp too much authority.

12:01 pm January 25, 2014

Anonymous wrote:

What an utter disappointment Obama has become as president.

12:02 pm January 25, 2014

He is not King wrote:

Members of congress (and members of the supreme court)should be prepared to either boo him off the stage or simply walk out when Obama tells big lies. Some will object that we must respect the office of the president regardless of the incompetence of the office holder. Why? He is not king, he is not even the boss - he is an elected public servant and should be repudiated by men of honesty and character.

12:06 pm January 25, 2014

Alonzo Quijana wrote:

1) Obama has almost no credibility, and is far into lame duck territory, so much of what he says will be ignored.
2) The speech will consist of mostly applause lines, and proposals for micro targeted programs that will benefit the politically connected (e.g. special tax breaks for green energy projects). There will be little of substance.
3) The Republicans will throw up a lackluster spokesperson who will trot out the same old GOP bromides, but as with Obama, will suggest nothing of substance.
4) The news media, save for Fox, will fawn over the speech.

12:20 pm January 25, 2014

Gene Decker wrote:

He has never had anything to say

12:50 pm January 25, 2014

Wil wrote:

And let's not forget how much he loves the middle class. You know, those crackers who stopped him in his tracks in 2010 by taking the house of representatives. He really loves them. Cause that's the kind of guy he is. Really.
So we'll be hearing more from him on the middle class,the middle class,the middle class,the middle class,the middle class,the middle class,the middle class,the middle class.......

12:52 pm January 25, 2014

GTH wrote:

Same old mouth, same old lies, same old ignorance, same old stupidity, same old country that is too dumb to catch on after 6 years, no wonder we're way down the list on education, too many ethnic groups trying to get something for nothing at our expense, this guy is pure garbage !

12:55 pm January 25, 2014

Bruce J Fernandes wrote:

Infrastructure means nothing to democrats without the ability to collect their "fair" share of union dues from said infrastructure projects.

Obama will be tuned out big time this TUE. Once a liar is caught in his web of lies and deceit; who cares what he has to say. If Obama had any interest in the private sector resuscitating this economy he would have worked out a deal to repatriate foreign profits.

The reason the democrats have no interest in this is their worst nightmare; that being $787B of private sector money getting the economy moving again when their $787B of stimulus for supposed shovel-ready jobs fails and you might have more people looking to business for solutions rather than democratic party politicians whose only interest is to create as many people dependent on government as possible.

1:01 pm January 25, 2014

Dig baby dig wrote:

He could start by approving Keystone XL. But he's not really serious about jobs, unless they are government jobs that expand spending and higher taxes.

1:29 pm January 25, 2014

Douglas Oglesby wrote:

I'll read about after the fact, if I can generate any interest, which is unlikely. I get too made listening to his lies.

1:49 pm January 25, 2014

liberal = cancer wrote:

Who listens to loser obama anymore ? It's just one lie after another

2:42 pm January 25, 2014

Common Sense wrote:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the name of the speech "The State of the Union?" If so, then it's pretty easy to know what he is going to talk about if he sticks to the topic: The State of the Union. He's going to talk about the poor economy. He's going to talk about how poorly Obamacare is performing. He's going to talk about high unemiployment. He's going to talk about high government debt. He's going to talk about a media out of control. He's going to talk about a Congress out of control. He's going to talk about higher taxes. He's going to talk about all the problems in the US since there really are not good things to talk about. And if he has any time left over (unlikely), then he might make some suggestions that Congress might go along with in order to make things better. Note, I don't say "fix things."

6:30 pm January 25, 2014

Sad HealthCare.gov wrote:

Whatever the President says be very careful about any assumptions you make about what he means. When I first started to use the HealthCare.gov website in October I was able to access the site just he said.
However I could not get to the point where I could actually sign on.

After about a week hearing about some sign on problems I was able to sign onto the website.
However I could not get to the point where I could actually choose a plan.

After another few weeks I could get to the point where I could choose a plan.
However I could not access the insurer (Anthem).

After a week I could choose a plan and after contacting their customer service was able to make an online payment.
However I did not get any cards or policy.

After a few weeks (and multiple phone calls) I got my insurance cards.
However the pharmacy would not accept them.

After many more calls I got a bill from Anthem with a due date of 1/1/2014.
However I thought I already paid for January.

Two days late I got a bill from Anthem with a due date of 2/1/2014 with a prior balance of $0.00.
However no checks or credit card entries had cleared the bank.

Today I got a notice from Anthem saying that my policy was cancelled with a due date of 1/1/2014.
However when I called they said that they could not reinstate the policy so I could make the payment, they said that I would need to start over at HealthCare.gov.

So what President Obama said was true. I liked my policy from Medical Mutual so I can keep my policy!
However, the plan does not qualify for the $800 rebate because it did not come through HealthCare.gov, So I still have to pay $1,430 per month to Medical Mutual but at least what President Obama said was true - if you like your policy, you can keep your policy!
However don't assume that keeping your policy means that you get the rebate also.

6:34 pm January 25, 2014

ein vogel-frei wrote:

road projects? after 6 years of the Great Recession, with recovery dragged down by the biggest DemoProgUnionMedia liberal tax&spend binge in history? Road Projects?

how about something visionary? how about evoking Kennedy, Reagan, Kemp and getting this country going again!

unfortunately he's likelier to boycott Sochi over LBGT issues (a'la Carter) than to do anything that actually helps our country.

7:25 pm January 25, 2014

Brian in Arizona wrote:

The address should be named the "State of the Disunion" address.

7:33 pm January 25, 2014

Anthony wrote:

B

7:34 pm January 25, 2014

Anthony Bishop wrote:

No one cares what you say Obama, because no matter what it is, its a waste of air. Stay home and entertain your elitist wife and spare us another one of your wind storms.

7:58 pm January 25, 2014

B Smith wrote:

How about starting off with getting rid of the 40,000 new laws/regulations put forth by the Congress Critters and signed by you?

THen move on to eliminating Cap Gains short/long term until your net income reaches $500,000 and after that 60% tax on them.

I'm sure ideas like this will never cross his pea brain and he says he wants to help the middle class..
YEA RIGHT.

9:51 pm January 25, 2014

rpc wrote:

change screening and recruitment practices -- will Mr. Obama apply that concept to how the USG does security screening? After Manning, Snowden, and the gov't alleging that hundreds of thousands of security background checks were improperly done, perhaps Mr. Obama should look in the mirror before reading from the teleprompter

9:57 pm January 25, 2014

DDS wrote:

"If congress doesn't help, I am going to act on my own and issue executive orders."

Whoa, that's a threat. Go ahead Obama and keep ruling unilaterally. It is exactly what Obama has been doing and the people are finally rejecting.

Go ahead Obama and keep on keeping on. because the November elections are coming sooner than you think.

10:01 pm January 25, 2014

Howard wrote:

An exercise in the appearance of legal government necessary to obscure the illegal government orchestrated by our divider in chief.

10:34 pm January 25, 2014

david kerr wrote:

The only immigration reform we need is temporary agriculture workers visa.

8:37 am January 26, 2014

Warren wrote:

I plan on watching "Blazing Saddles" while the SOTU address is on TV. Blazing Saddles is more credible than this President.

10:13 am January 26, 2014

Andy tMichael wrote:

Sounds exciting! Can't wait... well, maybe I can...what else is on?

11:09 am January 26, 2014

Tim Williamson wrote:

By the time he gets out his pen and makes a phone call it will be all over. It has been a joy having Pelosi set aside and next will be Harry and then the Un-American in Chief.

11:15 am January 26, 2014

Dave wrote:

Obama continues to think that jobs are created with more road and bridge construction. it hasn't worked for the first 5 years so why would it work now. all this new construction has done is cost the American travel income - income spend on higher gas prices and higher consumption of gas sitting idle in construction induced traffic jams.

I personally am sick of sitting in bumper to bumper traffic just to drive by some lazy union minions putting in new curbstone on the side of our highways.

11:16 am January 26, 2014

indy wrote:

Expensive parties, vacations and plenty of golf. Destroys health care, raising taxes and losing jobs at the same time. And he lied to get it passed. He's a champagne socialist a contradiction to himself. He's no longer credible.

12:33 pm January 26, 2014

Give Me Liberty wrote:

call for zero capital gains tax for certain small-business formation and urge renewal of various business tax incentives that have expired, likely including a research credit for businesses....MORE Division and the small "rnc" response will not be we are the party of free markets and one rule for everybody and the Presidents premise shows why we need a flat rate tax system with no big government playing favorites.

2:48 pm January 26, 2014

terry330 wrote:

One thing we know, President Obama is 3 times more popular than hard-line Republicans, and wants to keep moving America forward.

2:50 pm January 26, 2014

GTH wrote:

He's a pure stupid JERK, A white man would have been impeached, a half and half gets a reprieve. Well two more years to see if he can screw this country into the ground once and for all then he and his tribe can get out of the white house, actually he belongs in the big house for 10-15, for all his lies and deceit !

3:38 pm January 26, 2014

NOBie wrote:

Why would I waste my time watching him?

3:44 pm January 26, 2014

Curious wrote:

Who cares what he says and who will waste their time listening?

3:52 pm January 26, 2014

GTH wrote:

terry330 have you been out of the country for 6 years, or do you work for the government, or are you just plain
STUPID !

4:03 pm January 26, 2014

Jack Buckingham wrote:

I hope the big stooge Obama would have the decency to announce his resignation at the State of Union speech.

4:08 pm January 26, 2014

albuareadfdf wrote:

I am not from USA. But i am eager to listen to his speech. he is a great orator. I even listened to Ted cruz ,republican presidential hopeful, filibuster which revealed he doesn't even hold a candle to obama in intellect or clarity of thought.

4:45 pm January 26, 2014

Moi wrote:

I have better things to do than to listen to the liar-in-chief and his minions. What a despicable piece of merde this so-called president is. I can't wait until we have someone in the White House who puts Americans and Americans jobs FIRST!

5:37 pm January 26, 2014

Doug wrote:

We'll be watching something else (anything else). At this point, Obama's lies are so obvious, there's no point in listening anymore. We'll bide our time until November when we can vote for less power for this disastrous President. America will survive Obama.

6:00 pm January 26, 2014

Les wrote:

”the need to grow our economy in a way that rewards hard work and responsibility, that makes the middle class more secure.” Yeah, right.
We had 5 years sample of His Majesty's hard and responsible work, thank you.

6:19 pm January 26, 2014

MS wrote:

Yeah, lets target my political opponents supporters and spread around what we steal to my political supporters.

obama has been moving the country backwards for 5 years - Lay off the MSNBC its rotting what's left of your brain

6:45 pm January 26, 2014

Anonymous wrote:

He needs comment on what is now called climate change. It is freezing, we need to use fossil fuels...fast.

6:48 pm January 26, 2014

LJR wrote:

I have more important things to do Tuesday.....like go to a Buffalo Sabres game.

8:17 pm January 26, 2014

Homer Simpson wrote:

Jay Carney for example, said Friday that the president would address his longtime top priority–”the need to grow our economy in a way that rewards hard work and responsibility, that makes the middle class more secure.”

You've got to be kidding !!! We've seen 5 years of this g a s b a g in the White House and he has done everything in his power to indelibly hurt the middle class.

11:10 am January 27, 2014

no small affair wrote:

best comment on the web we can share---->

...."never understand this Republican myth that everyone not working simply refuses to get a job. How is it that you're just so blithely dismissing the loss of millions of jobs from the economic crash from which we have yet to recover? Or the fact that companies making record profits still aren't hiring? Or that those who are hiring are paying poverty wages, and those workers need two and three of the available jobs to survive?

How do you simply ignore all those facts and come to the conclusion that millions of people who were working in 2008 and lost their jobs subsequently, simply "refuse to work any job"
The Tea Party is against:
Social Security
Medicare
Medicaid
assistance for the elderly and disabled
food stamps
assistance for the military vets
minimum wage hike
unemployment benefits
health care for everybody
jobs bills sent by the president
infrastructure repair
public education
teachers
funding college education
women's rights
voters rights
Immigration reform
closing loopholes for millionaires and billionaires
public housing,
shelter for the homeless,
the Pope
BUT they are for:
underage children working
protecting the ultra rich
War rather than peace
Incorporate some functions of government
and instead privatize the rest
They want middle America to suffer foreclosure, while the super-rich get tax breaks, loopholes, overseas tax shelters
Oh, they have pushed gerrymandering
beyond belief. In fact, some Tea Partiers
did not get the popular vote, they won by
gerrymandering."

1:18 pm January 28, 2014

Isle of Palms John wrote:

Not going to watch or listen. Redistribution, higher taxes on the wealthy, higher minimum wage, pandering to women, hispanics, fellons, and long-term unemployed will be major cornerstones. The need for more jobs will obviously require more government spending. The affordable care act( akaObamacare) will be praised for putting those 26 and younger on their parents plans, providing insurance for those with preexisting conditions, and eliminating caps on insurance payouts. Examples of extreme help under ACA will be provided. But nothing will be said about the upcomming massive bailout of health insurers, the 25+% increase in premiums, the fact that millions more will now be uninsured than before the ACA, you can't keep your doctor or your health plan and money stollen from them Medicare tax will result in killing off Medicare advantage for senior citizens.
No. I will rely on serious commentators from FOX to tell me what he said, didn't say and outright lied about by our useless sorry excuse for a leader.

1:26 pm January 28, 2014

Isle of Palms John wrote:

Comment to no small afair. You have no idea what you are talking about except to regurgitate democrat talking points. The tea party's message is simple. Let's not spend more than we can afford.

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Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.